He was born the son of a sharecropper.
Heard the Devil's Dream played by blind fiddler Alf Kunkel at age 9.
His brother died bombing Tokyo.
He joined up to be a pilot like his brother, but they didn't take virgins, so he became a navigator.
Shot down over Germany.
Almost died from dysentery, his life was a gift from his German prison guard, "Popeye", who kept his prisoners alive despite the deaths of his family in allied bombings.
So his 6 children's lives were gifts of the German sergeant Popeye.
So his 3 grandchildren were likewise gifts.
Including myself.
Ran a convenience store, paying his way through college.
Became an engineer.
Invented a new kind of sprinkler.
Retired and divorced.
Travelled and seduced the world he loved.
He was a flame that lit all around him
with brilliant curiosity
and the generosity of his love.
A force of nature-a titan.
Now dead.